Green Strokes of Brown
by Jessaminebell
Summary: With the power of creativity, anything can be achieved. Any thought could be portrayed, any image created. With such a power, could Rin achieve her arms again, at least in the eternity of a painting?


Green Strokes of Brown

"Hey, Rin." The small girl took a minute to stop her foot from the canvas, breaking her concentration from the task at hand. She shifted her forest-green eyes, Hisao being her main focus. He played around with the small globe, spinning it on its base. He took a glance to her as well, opening his mouth.  
"It's been nagging me for a while, Rin-"  
"It must have nagged him for a while, too." She inserted into his small pause in words, cutting the boy off. She lost his eyes, glancing out the window from her small ledge she sat to.  
"What?" Hisao had to ask, narrowing his eyes. This wasn't the first time she had blurted out an odd phrase, one not pertaining to the idea at hand. All he could do was sit back and wait for the explanation that would surely create more questions.  
"The man that was on the news with the cockroaches in his pants. I wonder how long it took him to figure out. It probably would have taken me a while longer than him. I'm not very observant."  
What does being observant have to do with cockroaches in someone's pants? If something foreign was in my pants, I'm pretty sure I would notice! Hisao thought, shaking his head and starting over.  
"No, I wanted to ask you something, Rin." He restated, feeling a small anger die away. There was no use in getting annoyed at her. Rin is Rin. There's no arguing with it, no bargaining, just the truth.  
Rin is just Rin.  
"I've seen a lot of your paintings, but I want to know, have you ever painted yourself? I mean, do artists do that?" Would she do it by memory, or just make it up? No, that's stupid. Rin has to know the look of her face by now. Even if she didn't, an abstract painter like er would just end up distorting the features. Maybe I have seen her already, just all mixed up. Hisao debated, watching the girl start to paint again.  
"Yeah, I have. They never turn out so good because the noses don't feel like noses. Neither do the seeing things.. What are those things called?" She waved her brush towards him, expecting the answer. Hisao sighed, giving a rapid response.  
"Eyes, Rin?"  
She nodded, going back.  
"Yeah, those. They never feel right."  
The open window let in a small breeze, one big enough to just wash through her crimson hair. She closed her eyes, letting the air wash off any heat left by the late spring sun. Rin sat back, dropping the brush.  
Hisao went a little farther, rubbing his head in nervousness to his future question.  
"Well, have you ever drawn yourself with.. You know, arms?" He asked, causing the girl's eyes to slowly open. While she wasn't facing him, she talked.  
"Why would I do that?" She finally shifted a pair of green dots to his direction, eyeing him. Hisao shrugged, not really sure why he had asked the question.  
"I don't know. Maybe to see what you would look like?" Well that's a really stupid reason. Great job. Hisao silently kicked himself for such an idiotic response, waiting for her reaction.  
Rin didn't blink, giving her response.  
"I haven't thought to do it." She reached towards her canvas, using her toe to grab a fresh sheet of paper. With a swift motion, the girl knocked the canvas over and let it drop to the art room floor, replacing the area with her new paper.  
Hisao jumped to it, lifting it up to reveal the paint stained to the ground. He sighed, shaking his head again.  
"Wasn't this going to be in the school art show that's in two days? Haven't you been working on it for weeks, Rin?" He poked around, holding the paper towards the sunlight to admire.  
It was an odd piece, something a real lover of art would fawn over, yet all he could see were stretched faces. Was one maybe screaming? He couldn't tell, it being unfinished.  
Somehow, with the artwork being ruined, he felt as though a more worried tone was needed, yet he received none, and gave none. With Rin, it truly was an unneeded emotion. Why worry?  
Hisao slid it carefully to a nearby desk, having the utmost caution in the act. He turned back to Rin, the pencil to which she held being carefully dragged across the white plain. He had disappeared as her creative side took complete control.  
Hisao could only listen as the bell chimed overhead, Rin not caring in the slightest and continuing. He sighed, grabbing his bag and going for the door. Before exiting, the boy took a last look to the teen, her green eyes whipping across the paper, foot following soon after.  
"See ya, Rin." Hisao waved slightly, not expecting his reply.  
Upon sticking his head out, a small voice ushered his farewell.  
"Bye, Hisao." Rin muttered like a machine, sending a small smile to him. He chuckled, nodding and heading down the hall.

The girl couldn't help but staring to the sketch in front of her. She lowered her foot, sighing.  
It was all wrong.  
The proportions were correct, the posing was natural, even the hands, the area she had thought to be trouble was fine. Even with all this being said...  
Nothing felt right  
Why was she smiling? What made her smile in the photo? There was no reason to it.  
Finally giving in, she ripped this one as well from the canvas.  
The girl glanced out, the time of day finally dawning on her. The moonlight bathing her face, she looked out to the night sky. The stars twinkled softly, their light mixing with the crescent's and raining down to Earth.  
"It has to feel right..." She shook her head, eyes wandering towards a lone light emitting from the Earth. The girl looked to it, recognizing it as being a boy's dorm room.  
She suddenly stopped herself, eyes widening. Rin slowly trailed to the canvas, the blankness not seeming so taunting anymore. She picked up the pencil, starting a small trace.  
But this.. This does.

"C'mon Hisao! You're going to make me really late this time!" Emi tugged at his shirt cloth, not pulling him along, yet succeeding in causing a small hint of annoyance to flare in his eye. Hisao yawned, glaring down to her. She simply gave a smile, giggling.  
"You bang on my door at the small hours of the morning and expect me to get up immediately. Why didn't you go yourself if you wanted to be there early?" He sighed, closing the dorm room behind him and starting down the hall towards the little runner. As always, she was bounding ahead, desperate to be the first at everything.  
"We've got to get to the art hall as soon as possible. Rin's artwork is being displayed! Don't you want to see it?" She growled, almost angry at his lathargicism. Hisao picked up his pace just a bit.  
"That's right. Have you seen it yet?" He had to ask, curious as to if she had stuck with the original plan or continued with the project she had. The boy had not checked in within the two days, at Rin's request.  
Emi shook her head, the devices to her feet squeaking slightly as she descended the stairs.  
"No. I made sure to come straight here, Hisao. Let's just hurry up, okay?" She suggested, hushing all future conversations. Hisao nodded, agreeing.  
She seemed rather hyped up. More than usual, at least. Perhaps he could humor her with silent. Couldn't be too hard.

"Rin? We're here, Rin." Emi shouted to the top of her lungs, not minding the small gathering of others in the hallway. They merely brushed her off, continuing along with their set paths. Emi went past the crowd, pushing into them and away from Hisao.  
He was left to follow, making his way farther and farther in, finally breaking through towards the middle.  
He stopped cold, the sight overwhelming him.  
Were these the paintings he had inspired? Could he really make these images come to the mind of an artist? Really? Him?  
"Rin.." Hisao took them in, the individual masterpieces stationed along the hallway. The name of the collection hung lazily over them, "Green Strokes of Brown" A title only Rin could think to make, as the words together made no sense to the teen.  
Brushing aside the title, Hisao kept his eyes to the paintings.  
They were beautiful, plainly and simply. That was the word. The word that could describe such a scene.  
Beautiful.  
Trapped in the strokes was the image of two young teens. They were split into nine small foot by foot pieces of paper, those sections mixed out of order. The waists were on the upper right area, maybe their feet towards the middle. While this part of the masterpiece Hisao couldn't understand, could never understand, there was one foot by foot section he could.  
It was the face image, two happy individuals portrayed in the young girl's brush.  
With no doubt, it was Hisao and Rin, the girl's open smile and closed eyes seeming to be in pure bliss. She was being held slightly up by the male, a grin plastered to his face as well. It was a small scene, yet one item struck Hisao with curiosity.  
Turning to his side, he found Rin staring up to the painting. She held a blank look, her emotions not peeking through the poker face.  
"You drew yourself without arms. I thought you were going to draw them, the arms. Why?" He asked, grabbing her attention. Even with her exhaustion-stained face, the girl managed to smile to him. While it didn't quite match the level of her painted counterpart, it fit Rin so well. She turned back to the painting.  
"It didn't feel right." She stated plainly, chuckling. Hisao picked up, smiling along.  
"And us together like that did?" He turned to it as well, wrapping a hand to her shoulder.  
Rin nodded, seeming to agree with all of her heart.  
"Yes. Perfectly."


End file.
